Second Chances
by dreamsongs8
Summary: Rose Tyler has accepted that she cannot get back to her own universe. She's working with Torchwood to combat the alien attacks on London that are growing more and more frequent. She has no idea why, but some familiar faces might have answers for her. Or might make her life a whole lot more confusing. This is an AU story set after Doomsday, assuming Rose does not return for sn. 4
1. Chapter 1

The third time Rose Tyler's life changed forever was disguised as an ordinary Tuesday afternoon. Torchwood had been so busy lately that she hadn't seen the inside of her flat for days. Constantly being called in to investigate something, she had found it was easier to sleep in one of the on-call rooms they had on site than to keep hauling herself in during the middle of the night when a new disturbance was detected.

She had been in this universe for two years, and had adjusted pretty well. After Pete's original wife had died, he found he couldn't stand to lead the same life he'd been living. He had moved himself and Jackie into a much more modest home, and left his days of society parties behind him to prepare for the birth of their son. Once Rose and Jackie had been established as part of his life, he was able to send Rose to events in his place. Rose hadn't been too keen on this at first, but it quickly became useful as a cover for Torchwood employees to meet with informants or solicit investors. But between Torchwood assignments and attending events for her family, she felt like she was leading a double life, and it was starting to take a toll on her.

Mickey and Pete had decided she needed some time off when she accidentally punched an intern who had come to wake her up from the on-call room. She was sent home for the rest of the week. It took her some time to gather all of her things and switch out assignments on her desk, but Rose was finally home, trading in danger for a day of laundry and lounging on the sofa, in a state of perpetual napping. So, naturally, she was fast asleep when two intruders appeared in her flat. One of them quickly dropped a stasis pod next to her, which activated from a wrist control and wrapped around her wrist, locking her in, while they looked around.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" the younger man asked. "Looks a bit posh."

"Looks can be deceiving. Whatever the power source we're looking for is, it's coming from this flat. Come on, let's have a look around. Then we can look into sleeping beauty there." He pulled out a sonic device and began to take readings from around the flat. The younger man did the same with his wrist device. They circled the flat and found themselves back in the den, closing in on Rose. "Well, looks like she's what we're looking for after all. Get a look at the readings, void energy and something else. A bit like the vortex, but it's like nothing I've ever seen."

"So she's our target, then? Standard protocol one or two?"

"Two for now, until we know what we're dealing with. Get her back to the ship, I'll finish looking around here. See if there's anything else we need to look at and do the basic pack and load out when you get back." finished the older man, looking around at Rose's meagerly decorated flat. "Don't think it'll take too long, by the looks of it."

"Sounds good. Come on, princess." he muttered, leaning down to put one arm under Rose's legs and the other under her shoulder, lifting her up off the couch and over one shoulder. "Back in a few." he said, before pushing a button on his wrist device and teleporting them out of the flat.

The other man picked up an envelope from the large stack of mail sitting on the table in front of the sofa. "Ahh, Rose Tyler, then. Right, time to find out who you are."

Rose awoke hours later, feeling like she'd slept for several days. She was so groggy, she didn't immediately notice she wasn't in her home. The lights of the room she was in were dimmed so low she could barely see her arms in front of her face. She assumed it was much later in the evening and reached for the lamp that should have been on her bedside table. It wasn't there and that was when she froze, then switched into agent mode and sat up quickly, trying to adjust her eyes. As she swung her legs over the side of the bed and onto the floor, the lights went up and she could see a plain looking bedroom, with just the bed she was sitting in and one of the walls which consisted only of what seemed to be a mirror. Rose figured it was more likely a one way glass, and that she was being observed. She looked down to make sure she was covered and saw she was still in her shorts and camisole from earlier. A quick glance around the room showed her there was nothing else, nothing she could use as a weapon if need be. She approached the mirror cautiously. There was a door at the end of the wall, where the mirror ended.

"Hello? Is someone there? If it's money you're after, you took the wrong person. My dad won't give you any. We worked that out ages ago when that little girl got kidnapped, yeah? No use negotiating with kidnappers who are just going to come back a week later and do it again. So, you're gonna have to kill me, or let me go."

"What makes you think we're after money?" she heard a familiar voice ask. It was coming from a speaker over the door, which she assumed was part of an intercom system.

She chose not to say anything about the voice. Since she was in an alternate universe to the original owner of that voice, she doubted it would do her any good. "Well, my dad is the owner of Vitex Industries, so it seems the most likely reason, yeah?"

"What makes you think we kidnapped you?"

"Well, I was asleep in my flat, now I'm in a room with a one-way glass and an American talking to me over an intercom. Seems the most likely thing – unless I'm under some kinda quarantine."

"Maybe you are. Stand back by the bed, do not approach the door. I'm coming in and if you attack me, we're going to have a problem. And you do not want me to tell my boss that you're a problem. Right now I'm your best bet at getting out of this room."

"Yeah, all right then." she said, backing up to the wall on the other side of the room, putting her hands up for good measure. The door opened and when she saw him, she couldn't help the gasp of "Jack!" that escaped her, before she covered her mouth.

"How do you know me?" he asked, feigning a casual demeanor, but with narrowed eyes.

"I…I don't. Not really."

"Right. Well, you're lying. But that's not why I'm here, and we'll come back to that later. So, stop me when I get something wrong. Your name is Rose Tyler, supposed daughter of Peter and Jacqueline Tyler, but according to our sources you didn't exist until two years ago, nor did the woman claiming to be Jacqueline Tyler, who perished in the Cybus Industries attack three years ago. So, how does a dead woman come back to life and create a twenty-one year old daughter out of the blue? And don't give me the adoption lie your family gave the press, because I know that's not true."

"Why do you want to know so bad that you've kidnapped me over it? Who do you work for?" she responded.

"Now, now. That's not why we're here, remember? I ask the questions, you give me answers and I decide if you get out of here or not."

"Yeah, well, it's top secret information and I need to know who you work for in order to know if I can trust you."

"I'd say you don't really have a choice in that. If you want, I can leave you here for a day or so, who knows really, I lose track of time so easily. Could be another week before I come back. Or I could decide you're not worth the trouble and leave you here. And trust me, that's not something you want. Your choice, though. My boss won't care. He doesn't trouble himself with the little things like this. And if it helps any, take a look out the door on the other side of the bed." he finished, clicking a button on his wrist device, opening a door Rose hadn't known was there.

She climbed over the bed, trying to keep an eye on not-Jack as she went. There were bars on the door, just outside of where the panel slid in place. She peered out on what looked like a prison yard, only it was full of a mix of aliens and humans, or humanoids. And there didn't seem to be anyone monitoring them. There were doors like Rose's all around a large courtyard. Some seemed to have creatures cowering inside small rooms just like hers, others leaned against open doors watching the action on the courtyard. Dozens of the creatures that were not in the rooms were gathered in a large circle on the courtyard, and in the middle Rose could hear the obvious sounds of fighting. Around this, also watching, were lone or small groups of aliens who were peering at the others, apparently sizing them up. Rose saw one of the winged aliens swoop in and grab a small humanoid creature and fly out of the courtyard and into one of the rooms. Rose could hear the screams of the small creature that had been stolen cut abruptly, and tried not to think about what had befallen him.

She turned away. "What is that?"

"That's what you'd be looking at every day until I come back. If I come back. If I decide you need to be detained as a prisoner, that's where you'll get to spend your time. Not a very nice place, is it? Especially for an heiress. They'd kill you and mount your head just for something pretty to look at. And that's if you're lucky. So, feel like talking now?"

She sighed. She'd been in worse situations with the Doctor, and with her Jack, but she'd had the two of them as back up. She didn't like the idea of having to kill a bunch of aliens just to survive. If she told him what he wanted to know, he'd let her out and she could get a look at where she was being kept and try to find a way to escape and shut it down. "Yeah, all right. Just shut the door." she said, feigning fear over the scene in the courtyard. Maybe he'd go easy on her if he thought she was weak, just a helpless and scared heiress.

"Coming right up." he said, clicking the button to close the door again.

"Right, well, this is going to sound crazy, but judging by the other people…and aliens, you're holding here, it may not. So, basically, Mum and I are from another universe. You're right that Jackie Tyler from this universe died when the Cybermen first attacked. I was here, saw it happen. We were here accidentally, our ship crashed through the divide between the universes. But we were able to get away, get back to our own universe. But then the Cybermen started getting back through the void, and when we were trying to send them back to the void, something happened, an accident, and I ended up here permanently. Mum and my friend Mickey, well you'd probably know him as Rickey, they came with me. And that's about it."

"I gathered most of that on my own, actually. What I want to know is why you have something akin to vortex energy, time energy, but unlike anything we've got here, running through you in such high quantities. We already sensed the void energy from your mother and Rickey Smith. Believe it or not, you're not the first person to get sucked over across universes, but normally we're not dealing with this kind of power source. Rickey had traces, but nowhere near as bad as you. Wanna explain that?"

"Oh, is that it? Okay, yeah, my friend's ship I talked about, it traveled in time as well as space. " Rose said, feeling relieved.

"Your friend was a Time Agent, then? Or something similar?" He asked, frowning.

"Something like that, yeah. So that's it, really. Curiosity quelled?"

"You're not here because I'm curious, you're here because you're dangerous. I'm just trying to figure out how dangerous before we move on."

"Dangerous? But I haven't done anything!"

"Yeah, tell that to all the aliens you've killed at Torchwood." he said, smirking at her guilty look at being caught out. "Yeah, we know all about that, but that's not why you're dangerous. We're kind of on the same side here, believe it or not. Which is why I'm surprised no one from Torchwood put the pieces together about what's been causing all of the attacks you've been getting lately. We just happened to be in your neck of the woods on a small errand, thankfully, because we were able to spot that there was a problem and figure out what's been attracting every scavenger species within a ten galaxy radius to come and attack London, and it led us straight to you. Now, I've ascertained that you're not a threat to us, so if you'll submit to a medical exam we can get you out of here."

"Yeah, all right then." she said quickly, ready to get out and get a good look at the rest of the facility.

"Great, just lay down and I'll put you back in stasis and we'll wake you up after we're done."

"What? Are you mad? I'm not letting you put me under and do God knows what to me!"

"All right then, I'll just leave you here. The doors open at sun-up, and close whenever we remember to close them at night. Have fun!" he said, almost cheerfully, before turning back towards the main entrance.

"Ugh, fine. Put me under, but I want answers when I wake up. If I'm not a threat, and I'm not a prisoner, I deserve to know what I'm doing here."

"Who said you're not still a prisoner?" Jack asked, with a grin, just as he enacted the stasis and she lost consciousness again, dropping onto the bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack wheeled the bed out of the small room and down the halls, towards the med bay where his partner was waiting for him.

"Well?" his partner asked.

"Doubt she'll be a problem. Bit bossy, but harmless. Well, harmless to the world. She'd probably ring both of our necks if she could. She's Torchwood, all right. "

The other man laughed. "And the story?"

"Pretty much what we figured, alternate universe, she and Smith traveled with a Time Agent, that's why they've got the energy, but hers are higher because she traveled longer. So, the usual scans and samples? Or did you want to take a look for yourself?"

"Nah, got better things to do than deal with a displaced little human. If you think she's fine, just run the usual and set her up. I'll look in on her eventually."

"Will do." Jack said, reaching for a kit on the counter.

Rose awoke, again feeling as though she'd slept for days. And maybe she had, considering the stasis she'd been put in. She sat up, this time in a larger bed, in another dimly lit room. Remembering the last room, she swung her feet over the side of the bed and onto the floor. Again, the lights brightened as her feet touched the floor. This time, though, there was much more to see. The room was larger, with three doors and only a small window shaped one-way mirror which had curtains that could be closed over it. "That's an improvement." she muttered, to herself or whomever might be observing her at the moment.

There were three sets of shelves on the wall to the right of the bed. A picture in the middle caught her eye and she wandered over to look at it. It was a picture of her, her mum, Mickey and her second Doctor on Christmas that she had managed to print from the picture on her phone, the only item she had with her when she crossed into this universe. A picture that usually sat on her fireplace mantle. She quickly scanned the rest of the contents of the shelves and realized that they were all hers. Her books, pictures, knick knacks. All the personal contents of her flat, it seemed, had been transferred to this room. She turned back to the bed she'd just been in and realized that it was her own bed. All of the furniture was from her flat. Her sofa was on the other side of the room, in front of a large flat-screen television above the console which held her movies. Next to that was her desk and work chair from her home office.

She stormed over to the window-mirror. "Oi! Is anyone there? What do you think you're playing at? Why's this place got all of my things? Why am I still in here?" she punctuated this with her fists on the glass.

"Cool it, blondie. Not that you'll break the glass, but you might break your hands and I don't feel like putting you back under to take you out again. So I might just leave you there with a broken fist, and then how would you feel?" The voice of not-Jack had started out over the intercom again, but he'd entered the room as he wrapped up. "Now, what can I help you with, Princess?"

"Why am I still here? I told you what you wanted to know."

"I told you, it was never about that. We already pretty much knew all of that, just needed to figure out how dangerous you were to us and our other guests. I judged you not to be a threat, so don't make me change my mind."

"So what am I doing here?"

"Told you that, too. You're not a threat to us, but you are a threat to your planet, and any other planet you go to. We can't let you go."

"What? You can't keep me here. Besides, aren't I putting you in danger, then, too? Being here?"

"One, yes we can. And two, we're not on a planet, we're on a ship. And we're heavily shielded, it's safe for you here."

"So what, you just kidnap me and I live in this room for the rest of my life? How is that okay?"

"It's the only option. There's nothing to be done about it, and if you leave here you put everyone around you in danger. Don't be selfish."

"That's rich, don't be selfish? It's MY life you're messing with! And we were handling things pretty well before you lot came along."

"How many casualties?" he asked, not unkindly.

She looked away, not answering.

"And one day, you wouldn't be able to handle it and there would be more than just a few casualties. It's safer for your planet, for your loved ones, with you here." he said quietly.

"And what about my family? They think I'm missing? Dead?"

"We cleared out your flat, as you can tell, and left a note with your parents. Said you managed to find a window back into your own universe and were sorry you couldn't say goodbye, but the window was only open for a short period of time. Said you love them and all that jazz. I assumed there was something back there that would draw you back, without saying goodbye, if you could."

"And what about you? Can't you help me find a way back there? If you're so high and mighty and advanced, saving the universe from dangerous little girls like me. Can't you help me go home? Then I wouldn't be a danger, and I wouldn't have to live in a cage."

He ignored the first part. "You're hardly in a cage. Come on, I'll show you." he placed his hand on her lower back to guide her, and it felt like an electric shock – as it had always felt when Jack had touched her. He smirked, "You never did tell me how you know me. Or, I'm assuming you're not from my future, so you must have known your universe's version of me. Can't wait for that story. But not today. Come on." he moved his hand to her shoulder instead. "Okay, through door number one is the basics." he said, leading her through the door next to the rows of shelves which opened upon a small room with three more doors. "On your left, you'll find a wardrobe room. All your clothes are there and you'll find plenty more, it'll change every day. So have fun. In front of you is your bathroom, but, you know, with benefits. And on your right is a basic kitchen. Mostly for tea and snacks. Your food will be prepared for you, all you have to do is choose what you want from the tablet and it'll show up in the dumbwaiter. You can have a look around on your own time, for now I'll continue the tour." he turned them around, back into the bedroom, and towards the third door, the only one which seemed to have a control pad next to it. "This one leads you out to the common area."

"What, like that courtyard? No thank you." she said, shuddering.

"No, silly. Not everyone we pick up is harmless. That's where we keep them. You, however, have done nothing wrong and while you are being held, you're not really a prisoner. More of a guest."

"Got a twisted sense of hospitality, you have." she muttered.

"You'll get used to it." he replied, unfazed. "Okay, so this is pretty self explanatory but I'll go over it with you anyway. So, this is the entrance screen, you just need to put your hand on it and it'll register for you. It's also how you enter back into your room from the other side. It's a touch screen, so you just choose the different options. You'll find all the different rooms that are available for you to go to. For now, you only have access to a few but it'll grow as you get used to the place and we find if we can trust you around the others. For now, you can access the group kitchen which is better stocked, the gym, the swimming pool, the library, the media center where you can find more movies and video games or whatever you want, and three outdoor rooms."

"Hang on, we're on a ship, yeah? How's there an outdoor room?" she asked, with growing suspicion.

"Magic." he deadpanned. "Anyway, there's also an art room. And that's it, for now. Like I said, we'll adjust it later depending on how it's working out. You'll encounter others, they're also harmless but it doesn't mean you have to talk to them if you don't want to. No one can get into your room from that side of the door except for you and me. And I don't visit much, so you may get lonely. Might be good to make nice with the locals. They don't bite. Mostly." he added with a grin. "So you just need to press the icon for whatever room you want to go to and when you open the door with this button, it'll be on the other side."

"Fancy." she muttered, rubbing her temples. "I think I need to lay down again." she added, walking back towards the bed. For the first time, she noticed that someone had changed her clothes while she was out. "Did you change my clothes?" she asked with an edge to her voice.

"Don't get mad. I just put long pajamas over your shorts. It was cold in the med bay. If the other me you knew is anything like me, I can see why you might get the wrong idea. But I'm a professional, Rose. I'm not going to take advantage of you, so you can relax."

"Says you." she shot back, but already sitting back down on the bed.

"You okay?" he asked, stepping back from the door.

"I've just been told I'm being held prisoner for the rest of my life and I can never go home or see my family ever again. How d'you think I'm doin'?"

"Give it some time, you'll see it's not so bad here."

"Says the man who can come and go as he pleases."

"So can you, I just showed you."

"To a pre-determined set of rooms, nowhere else. What else are you hiding on this ship? Cuz if we're so free, how come we can't go out the other way, the way you came in?"

"I told you, we'll adjust where you can go when you've been here longer. And who says no one can go out the other way? You don't think I'm doing this job for my health, do you? I started off right where you are, but I cooperated and made myself useful, that's why I'm on the other side of the door. And trust me, you're not missing anything over here."

"You're tellin' me you're a prisoner, too? What'd you do?"

"I didn't do anything, same as you. I'm here because it's the safest place for me to be."

"Yeah, all right then. So who's keepin' us all here?"

"You'll meet him soon enough. He's busy keeping everything running, so he'll come down when he gets a chance. Until then, I'll leave you to it. If you need anything, anything that's not being provided for you, just use that control pad and hit the message icon. Works like an answering machine, sort of. Just leave a message and I'll see what I can do."

"All right. Thanks." she said, resignedly. "So I'll see ya again soon?"

"Soon enough. Goodbye Rose." he gave her a brief nod, then turned and left through the door he'd come in from.

Rose decided now was as good a time as any to take a look around. She approached the wardrobe first, wanting to change out of her pajamas. The wardrobe room was large and well organized. She could see that Jack was right about her own clothes being there, as well as a plethora of other clothing that had been provided for her. She glanced through it, but opted for her own set of sweat pants and a hoodie. No one to impress here, and she didn't feel up to venturing out past her room just yet. She grabbed her chosen clothing and walked into the bathroom. This was an improvement. There was a large walled in shower, a separate tub, almost like a jacuzzi (and perhaps it was, given the number of buttons and taps it had), She could see all of her products from her flat had also been transferred here. She found a large, fluffy towel and opted to take a quick shower before getting something to eat. The shower had a control panel, as well. She found she could adjust the water pressure, temperature, and heat of the shower room, along with controlling several nozzles where the water came out of. She showered quickly and changed into her clothes.

Next up, she walked over to the kitchen. There was a small, two burner stove, a half refrigerator filled with fruit, cheese, water bottles, juice and milk. The cabinets held an assortment of snacks, teas, and cookware. She approached the dumbwaiter, which had a control panel next to it. She quickly navigated it to a breakfast menu and selected french toast, eggs and sausage. Almost as soon as she'd sent the order, a chime signaled from the dumbwaiter. She opened the door and there was her breakfast, steaming hot and ready for her. Her suspicions grew, but she figured there had to be more than one ship in the universes that had the capacity to change rooms, supply clothing and prepare food for its inhabitants.

She took her breakfast back into the main room and over to the small dining table. She found the remote and decided to see what kind of television they gave her access to. She found a welcome screen, asking her what planet, location, and time she wanted the programming for. She programmed it for London, Earth for the day after she'd been home last and found the regularly scheduled programs, including the news. She turned it there, to see what was going on back on Earth and if there had been any mention of her disappearance. They were discussing the upcoming election, so she tuned out and went back to her breakfast.

A few minutes later, her attention was caught by her name being mentioned. She turned up the volume.

"And sad news, this morning. Rose Tyler, daughter of Pete Tyler, owner of Vitex Industries, has been found dead. We're told it was a car accident, late last night. It appears her brakes malfunctioned. No other cars were involved. The family has asked for privacy in their time of mourning, and asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the charities listed on the screen."

Rose watched, jaw slack, as a list of charities her mum worked with flashed on the screen. "How could they?" she asked, to the room in general. Torchwood must have faked the accident almost as soon as the letter was found. Which could have been immediately, if Jack and his boss had sent it to her family directly. After a minute of thought, she realized it was probably for the best, from their perspective. Wouldn't want to have to deal with questions regarding where she'd disappeared to. But she couldn't help but feel betrayed, that they weren't even going to look for her or consider she hadn't left of her own volition. "They must have had this planned all along, thinking I'd just leave them." she murmured, fighting back tears.

She quickly turned the television off and set to pacing the room. She needed to find out who was keeping her here. In order to do that, she needed to be able to get out and look around the rest of the ship. And in order to do that, she would have to do as Jack had said, cooperate and make herself useful. She wasn't going to just sit idly by and take someone's word for it that she was a danger to the planet, not when Torchwood had never detected anything wrong with her. She'd do everything in her power to get back home and find out for sure if it was true, then they could figure out a way to fix her, or shield her, or something. Anything that would allow her to go home, see her family again.

With a new resolve, she marched back into the wardrobe room and found something a little less informal to put on.

It was time to meet the neighbors.


	3. Chapter 3

After dressing in a floral printed dress she found in the wardrobe, Rose approached the door to the rest of the ship she had access to. After pressing her palm to it, her list of options popped up. She figured she would have the most luck finding other prisoners in the group kitchen, so she selected the corresponding icon. The door opened on an immaculate kitchen. Rose had been expecting something akin to a cafeteria, but it was more like the large kitchen in her parents' home. Lots of counter space, two refrigerators, a fully stocked pantry with glass doors, and every gadget she'd ever heard of (and many she hadn't). There were also two large dining tables set on the side of the cavernous room. The only thing the room seemed to be lacking was people.

Still determined, Rose turned back to the door and placed her palm on the panel, and selected the library. If she'd thought the kitchen was cavernous, it was nothing compared to the library. It had to house thousands of books, from Earth alone, and many thousands more from other planets. There were six floors with winding staircases in each corner and an elevator in the middle. She set out, hoping to find someone, but once again it seemed to be empty.

She tried the gym, the media center, the pool. Every door available to her opened on an empty location. Rose returned to her suite feeling uneasy and restless. She made tea, then decided she'd like to go for a swim to work off some of the restless energy. Again, she encountered no one, except for Jack who passed by on the other side of the windows along the hall, leading to what must be the rest of the ship. But he just gave her a quick wave and kept going.

She swam for as long as she physically could before her body demanded a break, and she returned to her suite feeling less restless, but no less uneasy. She couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. She changed back into her sweats and went back to the other rooms, noting that there was, in fact, a camera in each. She felt she wasn't just being watched from the cameras, but through the one-way glass mirrors that seemed to be in every room as well.

She walked over to the fake window-mirror of her own room. "I know you're there. Watchin' me. And I know it's not Jack, either. Whoever you are, maybe you should come talk to me instead of lurking about like a creeper, yeah?" There was no response. "All right then. Show's over for the night anyway. So unless you wanna come in and have a chat, you can go find something better to do with your time."

She reached out and closed the curtains, but just as they closed she thought she could see the faintest outline of a man behind the glass.

Jack's partner smirked at the indignant woman who'd just shut the curtains on him. True, she wasn't a threat, but she was fiery and he'd have to keep an eye on her. Part of him looked forward to the challenge, to break up the monotony of his daily routine. There were cameras in the suites, but they were only used for emergencies and he wasn't one to breach privacy over his own curiosity, so he let it go, chuckling as he walked down the hall to look in on Jack.

The next morning, Rose went straight to the shared kitchen, hoping to find someone else preparing breakfast or tea. This time, she was in luck. There was a young woman with dark brown hair waiting for the kettle to boil. She looked up when Rose entered, her expression changing from frustration to delight.

"Hi there! You must be new, I'm Clara. Do you want some quiche?" she asked, plating some of the dish that looked like it had just come out of the oven.

"Umm, sure. Hi Clara, I'm Rose. It's so good to finally see another face around here. I was starting to think Jack had lied to me about other people living here. I didn't see anyone yesterday."

"Oh, that's, um…that's my fault. I made breakfast for everyone yesterday morning, but I must have done something wrong. Everyone got a bit sick. Now they're all avoiding me."

Rose put down the forkful of quiche she was just about to eat. "Oh, that's unfortunate."

"I know! I cook all the time, and there've only been a few problems. You'd think I went around trying to make them sick or something. Besides, it's not like any of them bother with the cooking. They just let the ship make everything for them. How lazy can you get? I mean, look at this kitchen, it just begs to be cooked in, don't you think?"

"Oh, sure. Absolutely." Rose agreed, taking the opportunity to set her plate back down on the counter and look around. "So, how many of us are there?"

"Oh, not too many. At least not too many that venture out of their rooms very often. What are you in for?" she asked, reaching for the kettle that had finally boiled.

"I'm sorry?"

"What are you here for? Everyone here has something wrong with them, or had something done to them. I keep waiting for someone to top my story, but no one can yet." Clara finished with a smug little grin.

"And what's that?" Rose asked, taking the kettle from her when she'd finished.

"Oh, it's no fun telling, with me. You'll find out soon enough, though."

"That's hardly fair, then, if you expect me to tell you mine."

"True, but mine will become obvious soon enough, whereas most of the time it's not anything that shows, you know?"

Rose considered, then decided to tell her. She doubted the other woman would believe her. "I'm from another universe."

Clara let out a bark of laughter, "Hah, boring. I knew it would be boring. Almost everyone's from another universe around here. Except for me an' Jack. And Donna..kind of. Everyone else interesting always dies." she finished, shaking her head. "Not that I'm insensitive, but I've been here a long time. Seen a lot of people come and go. Some of 'em get to leave, once they've been sorted out. Some of 'em, like me, can't be sorted out and stay here forever. And the rest just don't make it, or go insane."

Rose gaped at her. "How long have you been here?"

"Hard to tell, really. Feels like months, though of course it would. Jack says it's more like three years."

"Right. So, have you ever been out there? You know, the rest of the ship?"

"Course not. Jack's the only one that's done that, and I reckon he was the first one of us here, so it's probably a seniority thing anyway."

"Does Jack live in here, though? Like us?"

"I think so. Hard to say, since he's the only one that can come and go as he pleases. But his room looks just like mine, well, you know, just like mine except for completely Jack-ified, if you know what I mean….which you probably don't since you only just got here. Sorry."

"Nah, it's okay. I knew another version of him in my universe, so I can probably guess, yeah?" she said, with a slight smile. "So, this boss of his, who is it?"

"Dunno. Some bloke with a mission, I reckon."

"You haven't met him?" Rose asked, confused.

"Yeah, but I don't think it was really him, 'cause when I met him again he looked completely different. I think they were having me on, don't want us to know who he is, or he doesn't want us to know what he looks like. I dunno. Only met him twice. Once when I got here, and once when I took up with Jack. Got quite the lecture from him about that, Jack too. But it's worth it."

"You and Jack are…?"

"Yeah, about a year now."

"Oh. Isn't that a bit odd, with him being the only one allowed to leave an' all?"

"Not really. I mean, he can't really leave, you know? He's just got access to more of the ship is all."

"Well, yeah, but isn't he in charge of looking after us?" Rose added, with a frown. "Seems like a conflict of interests."

"You sound just like his boss." Clara retorted, laughing. "No, it doesn't bother us. We're both settled in here, and it's not like we're going anywhere, so there's not really a lot of options in that respect, you know? But don't tell him I said that! Ego the size of a planet, that one."

Rose laughed, "Yeah, I can imagine."

"Right, well, lovely meeting you Rose, but I've got to run, busy day today. I'm usually in here in the mornings, though. Come see me tomorrow and you'll get what I was talking about earlier, about my…condition." she shot a wink at Rose before turning to leave.

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you then." Rose called after her. "Well she's certainly a strange one." she muttered, turning back to finish preparing her tea, and tossing the quiche into the trash for good measure.

"Wouldn't happen to be talking about my missus, would you?" Jack's voice rang out from the door, startling her and making her drop the entire plate in the trash.

"God, Jack! You scared me half to death. Lurk much?"

"I wasn't lurking." he replied with a defensive pout. Rose raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, I was lurking but I didn't want to interrupt you two. Promise I wasn't eavesdropping." he assured her, reaching past her to fish the dropped plate out of the otherwise empty trash bin and grabbing a fork.

"You're going to eat that?" she asked, incredulously.

"What? Nothing else in there. And she's not that bad of a cook. Mostly." he looked down at the quiche again. "On second thought.." he tossed it back in the trash, plate and all. "Maybe I'll stick to fruit today."

"How come you managed to avoid getting sick?" she asked, accepting the apple he handed her as he grabbed one for himself.

"Wasn't here, was I? I was dealing with a certain blonde energy source from another universe." he grinned, before taking a bite.

"Right. So when do I get to meet the Wizard?" she asked, pulling out a knife to slice the apple with.

"The wizard?" Jack asked, mouth full.

"The Wizard, the man behind the curtain? Your boss?" she finished, as he didn't seem to get the reference.

"Right. That depends."

"Depends on what?"

"On when he feels like coming to see you. Or when he gets bored. Whichever comes first."

"Right. And until then…?" she prompted.

"Until then, Rose Tyler, you can just suck it up and find things to do. Like everyone else. It's Thursday, so Clara will be teaching a spin class in the gym this afternoon at around 4. If you feel like learning, you can pick up a laptop from the media room. There are classes in anything you could want to learn. And there's wifi, though you can't access anything like email, or social networks, of course. But plenty on there to do, even a class on how to operate the internet here." he said with a wink. "You went around yesterday, but you didn't really explore. Plenty to do here, if you've got the right mindset to do so. Or, you can hole up in your room like some of the others and slowly lose your mind from boredom and monotony. Your choice, as always." he turned to leave, but Rose called him back.

"Wait! I wanted to ask you something. As you know, I worked for Torchwood so I've got a pretty good understanding of technology and energy and all that, right? I was wondering. I'd really like to see the records on me, on what's wrong with me that's got me locked up in here. It's not that I don't believe you, but…well, no. That's it exactly. I don't believe you. I want to see for myself."

Jack laughed. "Well, the labs aren't on your approved locations, just yet. But given your history with Torchwood, maybe we should re-think that. Could put you to work, inventing things that need inventing in your time. Or at least keep you busy trying."

"You didn't answer my question." she said, frowning.

"Yeah I did, you just didn't like the answer."

"So that's a no, then? And I'm just supposed to believe you on blind faith, is that right?"

"Not like you have a lot of options."

"Are you trying to make me hate you? Because I don't want to."

"I'll tell you what, you show up to Clara's spin class today and have tea with her tomorrow morning. Then let me take you for lunch afterwards. Trust me, that's going to be necessary once you've talked to her. Also, I want you to tell me about your relationship with your universe's Jack. If you do all that, I'll consider asking my boss to let you have access to the labs. It's not up to me, you should know that. I may be the one enforcing the rules, but I'm still living by them, too." he added, his tone softer now.

"If I do all that, you promise you'll talk to him, and tell him I want to meet him too."

"I'll do my best, I swear."

"All right, then. Yeah. I'll be there."

"Great! Clara will be happy to see you at her class, no one but Donna ever comes to those, and even that's rare."

"What? Who does she teach, then?"

"It's more of an open ended thing, really. In case anyone wants to show up. But mostly it's just me, when I can make it. She does some art classes, and a book club too. She used to be a teacher before…well, before things changed for her. And it makes her happy, so I always try to get people to go."

Rose felt sympathy for the other woman, understanding what it's like to lose so much of your life and want to get it back. "'Course I'll be there, then. And the other classes, too."

Jack's face lit up with the first genuine, non sarcastic smile she'd seen on him, and he looked so much like her Jack it hurt. "That's great, Rose. Really, thank you."

"Not doing it for you, am I? Doing it for her. She seems nice. Anyway, I'm gonna go find something to do before then. Maybe I'll check out the computers."

"Good idea. And before you ask, yes there's porn." he finished in a mock-whisper.

Rose couldn't help but laugh and swat at his arm as she passed. "I wasn't going to ask, but thanks for the information."

"You're welcome, and yes you were!" he called after her, as the door closed behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

Rose had found a laptop in the media room, and quickly figured out how to use the internet on it, hoping she could find a way to get a message to her family. But Jack was right, she couldn't find a thing from her time, other than history and news reports that stopped with that day's date. She'd tried pulling up her email account, the instant messaging program she used for non-business purposes, the backdoor site for the Torchwood system, and even meBook (this universe's version of Facebook) but none of them generated any results. She glanced at the clock and noticed it was getting close to the time she was supposed to meet Clara, and decided to try again later. There had to be a way, and she was determined to find one.

She changed into gym clothes and headed out to meet Clara. Clara was a pretty good instructor, beginning with easy settings and exercises until she realized Rose was in very good shape and turned it up several notches to make it worth their time. Afterward, they sat and stretched together and chatted.

"Thanks for coming, Rose. I appreciate it. It's better with two, you know?"

Rose grinned at the phrase, "Yeah, I do. Jack said you do some other classes, too? I'd be interested in those as well, when are they?"

"Oh, you can pull them up on the schedule, didn't he show you?" Rose shook her head. "Daft man, he hardly remembers to show you where the loo is, first time. I think he likes getting messages asking for help. Makes him feel useful. Anyway, on your door panel, there's an icon that looks like a clock. That'll pull up the schedule of group activities anyone has posted for the day, or week. You can RSVP and everything, right there. There's not a ton of things to do, but there's some. Anyway, it's better than sitting around all day, right?" she concluded, giving Rose a warm smile.

"Yeah. That's true."

"So what are you doing for the rest of the night?"

"Dunno. Hadn't thought on it."

"Well, Jack and I will be in the media room watching movies if you want to join us."

"I think I'll pass, let you two lovebirds have your privacy." she smiled.

"Oh, all right then. I'll see you tomorrow though, right?"

"Absolutely."

"Good. Well, until then!" she popped up with ease and headed out the door.

Rose had gotten up to finish her stretches, reaching down towards her toes, when she got the feeling she was being observed again. "Oi! This isn't a free show. Come in and talk to me, or stop looking at my bum and find something else to do!" she called out, towards the window-mirror.

She heard the intercom crackle, then an obviously distorted voice came across it. "Wasn't looking at your bum. I'm not a pervert. But your shoe's untied. Nighty-night."

She jerked up, then ran towards the window. "Wait! Come back!" she banged on the glass. But the intercom had gone quiet and she knew she was alone again. She sighed. "Great, I get my chance to talk to the wizard an' I blow it on cheap jokes. Nice job, Rose." She looked down and saw that her shoes really were untied. She rolled her eyes and stooped to tie them. Then resignedly went to the door that would lead her back to her room.

The next morning, Rose got up with purpose. Knowing she had plans, plans that could help her get answers or at least a proper conversation with the man in charge had allowed her to fall asleep easier. She got dressed quickly, taking a bit more care choosing an outfit than she had the day before. She wanted to make a good impression of trying to fit in, and dressing and acting sociable were a good start.

She found Clara at the stove again, looking more put together than she had the day before. She had full makeup, her hair was up in a high ponytail, and she was tapping impatiently on the counter waiting for the kettle.

"Morning." Rose greeted her. "Blimey, my thighs hurt today! Been too long since I've ridden."

"Okay, first, that was way too much information. Second, who the hell are you?" Clara responded, looking her up and down. "Mind you, you're gorgeous. I take it back, you tell me more about your thighs, whoever you are." she purred, leaning back against the counter.

Rose backed off, looking every bit as confused as she felt. "What do you mean, 'whoever I am?' Clara, it's me. We met yesterday?"

The other woman rolled her eyes. "Well of course you did. You had to go and meet Clara first. Just my luck. Well, I'm not Clara. I'm Oswin."

"What, are you sisters? 'Cause you look just like her, it's uncanny."

Oswin stepped away, eyeing her like she was incredibly dim. "No, we're not sisters. Blimey, didn't she tell you anything? No, bet she told you to wait and see, am I right? No, don't tell me, I'll look." She closed her eyes in concentration. "Oh, that's bloody great. I don't have time for this, she always does this! You say hi to Jack for me and tell him I said he can explain this time, and that I've got plans for later, after your lunch. You can always join us, of course." she reached out and drew her hand down Rose's arm as she passed. "If you get bored." she finished, with a wink as she got to the door.

"This place is a mad house." Rose muttered, retreating to the door to go back and get breakfast in her room.

A few hours later, Rose headed out to meet Jack in one of the outdoor rooms. He had told her he would bring lunch, so she didn't bother bringing anything else. She'd spent the rest of the morning on the computer again, trying to find some way to contact her family. But once again, it had proved fruitless. She arrived at the outdoor room to find Jack spread out on a blanket, picnic lunch spread around, sitting at the top of a hill that overlooked what she believed to be a fake vista, but could well be real and explorable. She'd have to investigate that later. For now, she approached Jack, ready for the conversation they needed to have.

"So, did you go to tea this morning?" he asked innocently.

"Yeah, and what was that about?"

"Well, who was it?"

"She called herself Oswin, what's that about? She looked like she could have been Clara's twin! Only she swanned off and said you get to explain it."

"Funny, I would have figured she'd have at least hit on you first." he said with a grin. Rose's cheeks reddened and he laughed. "Oh, I was right then."

"Still not answering my question." she muttered, looking down at the flowers.

He sighed, then turned over onto his side to face her. "Clara is a very unusual case. In fact, completely unique as far as we know. She was dating a Time Agent who got into some trouble on a trip they were on. Someone had infiltrated his time stream and gone back throughout his history, undoing all of the things he had done in his career. Damaging the time lines and threatening the lives of everyone he'd ever helped, or even met. Clara thought it would be a bright idea to go in after them and undo it all. Only it almost cost her her life. She was split into dozens of pieces, scattered throughout his timeline, to fix all the damage caused. It created several alternate versions of her, throughout time and space. It nearly ripped her apart before we got there. The Time Agent was a coward, and ultimately a double-crosser, who got away with committing treason against the agency. That's how I knew him, he and I had trained together and been partnered up for a few years before I left. He was part of the reason I had to leave. He'd set me up to take the fall for him. They had indisputable proof it was me, not him, that had committed treason and there was a bounty on my head so big it'd make your dad blush. Anyway, we were tracking him down and came in just as he was trying to sneak away and leave Clara to die."

"Oh my god!" she gasped, "How did you manage to save her?"

"Well, once her other selves had done what they needed to do, my boss was able to gather them all back into her body. But it couldn't completely undo the damage. There are a few of them in there, but only three who ever seem to make an appearance. Clara, the original Clara, is the one who comes out the most. Then there's Oswin, who's from a future that no longer exists, and the other Clara. But they call her Vicky, since she's from the Victorian era, and two Claras would make it even more confusing, don't you think?"

"Wow, that's…that's a lot to take in. She seems to be okay with it, though. I don't know how I'd manage if I had to share my head with two other people. I couldn't even manage one before I thought I was gonna die."

Jack looked askance at her, before continuing. "Well, it's not like they're all in there at once. Well, I suppose they are, in a sense. But it's a different one each day. Every time she wakes up, to be precise. Though sometimes it's pretty standard. Like Thursdays, Thursdays are always Clara. And they don't seem to be fighting to occupy space in there. It's strictly one at a time, but they do have a shared memory pool that they can each access if they need to. I mean, ultimately it's not as bad as it could be. But leaving her on Earth, in your time, can you imagine? They'd lock her up, and in a decidedly less posh establishment than this one. They wouldn't know what to do with her. And her Time Agent boyfriend ran away when we got there, didn't want to face me. He'd thought I was dead, and probably would have killed Clara if we'd left her behind. So, she came with us."

"Well, original Clara seems to have a sunny disposition on the matter. I can't even imagine what I'd do."

"I can, because you're in the same position, really. We all are. You just have to make the best of what you've got."

"Wait, so you're telling me you're dating her, and she's got these three personalities, how does that work, then? Do you have to leg it out of the bedroom before she gets up? In case it's one of the other ones?"

He laughed. "No, not at all. Well, sometimes. Oswin's not exactly a morning person. But no, I love them all. All three of them. Separately and the same."

This time Rose was the one to laugh, and couldn't stop.

"Something funny about that? I'm trying not to get offended here."

"No, no. It's not that. It's just…well, we were gonna do this anyway so I might as well. The Jack I knew, yeah? He was always talking about how he'd had these threesomes, and foursomes, or whatever. And I always wondered who he'd end up with, yeah? How he could ever be happy with one person, or if he ever could, you know? And here you are, with the perfect solution! Oh, it's not funny, I shouldn't laugh…" she said through giggles, trying to catch her breath.

To her surprise, he was laughing as well. "Yeah, it is a bit like dating three different people. And you're right, it was a very happy solution for us all." he said, grinning. "So tell me more about your version of me. Were you two together? You seem to know me pretty well…and, you know, Oswin's always looking for a third." he added with a wink.

Rose laughed. "No, well I mean we traveled together, but we were just friends. Didn't get to know him for too long, he died a few months after we met. But he was a lot like you. He was a Time Agent too, and something happened to him, probably something like what happened to you, only he had two years of his memories wiped and became a conman. A really bad conman, honestly. Don't go into that line of work, you'd be rubbish at it." she paused, grinning fondly. "Anyway, I used to travel with this bloke called…well, it doesn't really matter what he was called. But we picked Jack up in World War II, which I guess never happened here. But he tried to pull me on top of an invisible space ship tethered to Big Ben, if you can believe it!"

Jack laughed, "Yeah, that sounds like me."

"Anyway, he died, trying to buy us time to save the world, again. I kept traveling with our friend, but I always missed him. He was a good friend. And I suppose, when you're not busy being mysterious and rude, you remind me a lot of him."

"Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?"

"Good thing, I think. I always wished we'd gotten more time together. And you're not the same person, but you're so easy to talk to. So you're all right." she teased, with a grin.

"I'll take it! Cheers!" he called, raising his glass of juice to tap against hers. "So this friend of yours, was he a Time Agent too?"

"Something like that."

"Well that's a vague 'no' if I ever heard one. Who was he? Maybe there's one of him roaming around this universe too."

She smiled sadly. "Nah. He said it was impossible. Though sometimes I wondered if he really knew what that word meant, since it turned out to be wrong every time he used it."

"Were you and he…?"

"No. Not really. Not from lack of wanting. He just…I don't know if he did that sort of thing, you know? He was alien. But we loved each other, yeah."

"How long's it been?"

"Oh, about two years. Which was something I wanted to talk to you about. You claim that I was the one causing those attacks, but those only just started up about eight months ago. How come, if I'm so dangerous, it took them so long to show up? I mean, I'd been there for over a year by then and nothing out of the ordinary happened."

"Well, it depends. Some of them were far away, took some time for your energy levels to register for them. And took some time for them to travel. And while it does attract them, I wouldn't exactly call it an urgent mission for any of them. Mostly curiosity. And curiosity with ill-intent. If any of them had caught you, you'd be a lot worse off than you are here. You were lucky that you'd been able to subvert them for so long, but I think even that was part of it. The more you'd sent off, or killed, the more interest it piqued. Might as well have put up a big neon sign to the universe."

She sighed, "Look, I really don't want to be annoying about this, but I want to see those results. You can understand, right? If it were you, you'd want to know for sure."

He contemplated her for a moment before responding. "I know. And like I said, it's not my place to show them to you. I've passed along your request, and he says he'll visit you when you stop accuse him of being a pervert."

"What!? That's out of line, he IS acting like a pervert and…you're completely having me on, aren't you?" she said, noticing his muffled laughter.

"Just a bit. He told me you'd called him a creeper and I couldn't resist. No, but really, he said he'll come see you soon. And that's honestly the best I can do."

"Yeah, all right then. Well, I'm not feeling up to much more today. I kind of want to just be alone and have a good sulk. I'll see you later, Jack. And thanks. Sorry I'm being so hard on you, it's not really your fault and I know that. I just…it's hard."

"I know. You go on, I'll take care of all this." he said, reaching to gather up the remains of their lunch.

"Thanks. I'll see ya." She rose to leave, feeling a bit worse for wear after their conversation. Back in her suite, she'd started to work on the computer again but gave it up and decided to just watch the news again to see what was going on back home, but quickly fell asleep instead. A knock on her door woke her up a short while later. She sat up, adjusting her clothes and hair, and ran towards the door, hoping it would finally be the illusive man in charge. She was disappointed to find Jack and Oswin on the other side. "Hi you two. I'm not really feeling up to company right now."

"Shut it and budge up. I'm coming in. Jack was just my way over here." said Oswin, pushing past him and carrying a cloth grocery bag. "You can go now, ta." she called over her shoulder to Jack, who gave a quick salute and shut the door. "Jack says you're in a mood. And we've all been there. So I brought liquor. We're drinking." she said, pulling out several bottles and placing them on the dining table. "Well, don't just stand there, go get us some glasses and ice."

Rose rolled her eyes and turned to go get the requested items from the kitchen area. To her surprise, the door to the dumbwaiter was open and held a tray with glasses, an ice bucket with tongs, and different bottles of juice. She found herself silently thanking the ship, as she used to do back on the Tardis, then paused. This was yet another piece falling into place in a puzzle that she didn't like. She'd have to talk to Oswin about it later.

In the meantime, she found that Oswin was a rather aggressively friendly person, who genuinely seemed to care that Rose was having difficulty adjusting. After a few drinks, Rose admitted to her that she'd been trying to find a way to contact her family through the internet system.

"Wasting your time, you are. I'm dead clever with computers and even I couldn't get through. Mind you, even if I could I don't really have anyone to contact. But it was more of a point of contention for me. I've hacked some of the best computer systems in my time, but I couldn't get through on this system. For my time period or for Clara's, which I suppose is yours, too."

Rose groaned, and moved to refill her drink. She hesitated, wanting to broach the topic she was most curious about but unsure if it was a good idea. "So…you told me yesterday, well, I guess Clara told me, that you'd met Jack's boss twice, and that he looked different the second time. Did he say anything about that?"

"No. I just assumed that it wasn't really him, or that he was disguising himself. I've gathered he has a bit of an issue with privacy, since he doesn't seem to talk to anyone except Jack."

"Yeah, that makes sense. He talked to me for a bit yesterday, but disguised his voice. Did you ever ask Jack about it? Seems a bit odd."

"Yeah, I mentioned it to him, but he said he wasn't at liberty to talk about it. Anyway, I'm thinking he just doesn't know and is compensating." she giggled into her drink. "I think it drives him mad, being the go-between, when he really doesn't know much more than we do. Or at least that's what it seems like. Maybe he's just pretending not to know. Either way, doesn't really matter. Can't change any of it, so what's the point grumping about it?"

"Yeah, but what if we could, though? I mean, what if we didn't have to live like this? Seems like there's got to be some other solution, aside from taking us all prisoner. I mean, rescue's one thing, but none of us got a say in it, did we? And we're locked up like prisoners, but we didn't do anything wrong. There's got to be a better way." Rose mused, almost forgetting she was talking to Oswin.

"Oh no, I've seen that look before. You're thinking of doing something stupid, like trying to escape. Look, I know we just met but I like you, so let me give you some advice. Don't. That way lies madness. I've seen others, people who couldn't take it living here, try to get out, or do something stupid to try to force themselves to be kicked out, and it doesn't end well."

"Why? What happened?" Rose asked, sitting back down on the other side of the sofa.

"Never heard from again. They could be confined to their suites, lost all privileges. They could be somewhere else on the ship, there were rumors of a solitary confinement type area. Or they could have been taken back to that other prison, or killed, or….anything really. No one knows."

"But that's just it! No one knows. They could have found the bloke in charge and reasoned with him to find a way to help them go home. You don't know."

"I do know, though. Don't you think if there were a way to fix us, or somewhere for us to go, we'd be there? I don't know about you, but if I was some powerful alien with an amazing ship like this, I wouldn't want to keep rounding up the misfits of the galaxy and taking care of them. Not if there were another way."

"What makes you think he's alien?" Rose asked, again hesitant to approach the topic.

"I dunno, just the vibe I get. I've been to the future, and we don't have this technology. I don't know if we ever get it, but Jack doesn't seem to think so and he's seen more of it than I have. Look, do yourself a favor and let it go. Just try to find a way to be happy here. Anything else is just asking for trouble."

"I can't though! It's all bloody intimidation, and scare tactics, and other similes…blimey, I'm pissed. Anyway, the point is, no one knows anything for sure because they keep us in the dark. And it's not fair! I didn't do anything and I'm being punished anyway. And I'll never get to see my family again. And what's worse is that they believed that note Jack left, believe I'd just run off back to the other universe without saying goodbye. Didn't even bother to look into it, see if I'd been taken against my will."

"You don't know that." Oswin said kindly. "You saw the news report, yeah, but that doesn't mean they just gave up on you. There's a lot they wouldn't tell the media, right?"

"Oh, trust me. They believed it. Think I up and left them to go back to the Doctor. They clearly had contingencies in place for it, the idiots." she mumbled, missing the sound of the door opening behind her. She did hear Oswin's gasp and looked up. "What?"

From behind her, a voice spoke. "Rose Tyler, I think it's time you and I had a chat. Oswin, you should probably get back. I think you two have had quite enough to drink."

Oswin scurried over to pack up her things, but Rose had frozen in place. She knew that voice, of course she did. But it was a voice she never thought she'd hear again. She braced herself and turned to look at him. And she was greeted by the doppelganger of her first Doctor, black jeans, maroon jumper, and leather jacket, just the same. She looked into the familiar blue eyes, then felt the sofa rising up to greet her as she passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

The Doctor had just gone to look in on Rose and Oswin, he hadn't planned on eavesdropping; but he'd seen that the curtain was open and couldn't help himself from taking a quick listen to see what they were talking about. As it was, he was glad he had. Oswin had talked Rose out of doing something stupid and he'd have to thank her for that. Even then, he wouldn't have interrupted them, but Rose had specifically mentioned his name. He'd had his suspicions about her for a while, about who she'd been traveling with in the other universe. Jack had filled him in on all of their conversations so far, and he could draw his own conclusions. And so, it seemed, could she. She'd asked the other woman questions that were obvious clues, if you knew what you were looking for.

Now he was carrying an unconscious Rose out the door and through the halls to the medbay. He wasn't sure if it was shock, fear, or the alcohol that had made her pass out, but she couldn't have picked a worse time to do it. He hated communing with the humans enough as it was, now he'd have to take care of her and make sure she was sober enough to have the conversation they needed to have. He could have just waited until she'd slept it off, but now he'd gone and tipped his hand by entering the room.

He inserted an IV to help speed up the sobriety, but figured he was probably in for at least a few hours' wait. He strapped the arm that didn't have the IV to the rails of the bed, in case she woke up while he was gone. With his luck, she'd wake before he got back and try to explore the ship on her own. And he wasn't sure what kind of mood his ship was in, or where it would lead her if she did. So it was better to play it safe.

Rose woke up a few hours later, her head pounding and stomach churning. She immediately regretted the last two or three drinks she'd had. As it was, she couldn't even remember going to bed. She attempted to roll over, but her arm jerked her back. She sat up quickly and realized her left arm was strapped to a gurney, the other had an IV inserted. She tried to reach across to take it out, but her secured arm wouldn't allow for it. She groaned and lay back down, shutting her eyes. She attempted to think of the last thing she could remember, and quickly sat up again in shock. "Doctor," she murmured.

"You rang?" his voice replied, entering the room. "So, Rose Tyler. Seems we're overdue for a chat."

"Seems we are," Rose agreed. "First, can you undo these?" she asked, lifting her wrists.

"Nah. The IV will do you good, and I don't want you getting the bright idea to try and run off and explore my ship."

Rose sighed, "All right then. Well, since you're the one who brought me here, what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, now she doesn't have questions," he said, rolling his eyes. "Been hounding Jack for days to see me, and suddenly you've changed your mind?"

"It's not that. It's just...well, I dunno where to start, really."

"How about we start with the part where you tell me how you know my name?" he suggested, taking a seat on a stool near her bed.

"How much has Jack told you? Of what we've talked about, I mean. Or have you been listening in on all my conversations?"

"Rude!" he admonished, "I've not been listening on all your conversations. Just the ones Jack's not there for. He's told me the rest," he finished, with a manic grin, so very reminiscent of her own Doctor that it gave her a pang of sadness.

"Right, well, as you've no doubt pieced together, the person that Jack and I traveled with in my universe was, well, you. That universe's version of you, anyway."

"That's odd. There shouldn't be Time Lords in other universes," he said, frowning.

Rose laughed, "Yeah, that's what he said when we ended up here the first time."

He just shrugged his shoulders, "Shows what I know, then. All right, so you traveled with this other me. Was it this version? Musta been, since you recognized me."

"Yeah. This one, and the next," she answered, softly.

"Huh. Well, doesn't really change anything. You're still stuck here. You may think you know me cuz you've traveled with that one, but I can tell you straightaway that he's not me. For one, I'd never travel with humans, if I could help it. No offense, of course. You seem intelligent enough, for a human. And brave, and decent enough to look at, but you lot bore me to tears. Jack's pretty much the only exception, and that's only because he was a Time Agent, so he's seen a lot more than the rest of you. And he's handy to have around. But even with that, I don't have a choice. Got to keep him here, so might as well put him to work. But the rest of you, no thank you. Wouldn't catch me spending time with you if you paid me."

"That why you're so keen to keep tabs on us all?" she asked, offense evident in her features.

He laughed, "Nah, don't keep tabs on all of you. That's Jack's job. I was just checking in on you because I had a weird sense about you, like you were lying to me, or covering something up. I couldn't let that stand. And look, I was right! So, that's my curiosity quelled. Thanks for playing. I'll be getting back to work now and I'll have Jack come take you back."

"Wait! Just, I dunno, give me a minute to process, yeah? I still have questions for you, but my head's a bit fuzzy still," she said, attempting to lift her hand to her forehead.

The Doctor sighed, then got up and began mixing a powder into a glass of water to give to her. "Here, this'll help."

"Ta," she said, gulping it down quickly. She hadn't realized how thirsty she'd been. "Right. Okay. So..."

"Any decade now, thanks," he interjected, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Blimey, you're impatient! That's one thing you've got in common with him, that's for sure," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "All right. So, I dunno, there's a lot I want to ask you, but I don't know how much is different and how much is the same and I don't want to tell you anything that might be from your future, since I traveled with the next you, too. Can you tell me how you got into doing this? This intergalactic policing thing you've got going on here? It's a bit weird, yeah? Here you've got this amazing ship, can go anywhere and anywhen; you don't want to travel with humans, yet you've got a ship full of them. What's that about? Why do it, if you don't want to?"

He eyed her contemplatively for long moment, "What did your version tell you about his people?"

"He said that they were all gone, dead in the Time War," she answered, quietly.

He gave a dry laugh, "I see some things stay the same across universes. Did he say how? Don't give me specifics, just...did he know how, at least?"

She broke his gaze, looking down at the gurney. "Yeah," she replied.

He nodded, "Well, that makes one of us. I wasn't there. I was here; well, on Earth. I knew the war was happening, and I knew it was bad. I had been sent to Earth to return a group of prisoners. That's what we did, see. My people. Policed the galaxy. Only we didn't have time to deal with the ones we had once the war started, and I was sent to return them somewhere suitable until we could get back to it. When I tried to return, nothing was there. It was just gone. But, like I said, don't tell me what yours told you. Don't wanna know. Might be the same, might not be. Either way, what's done is done and I made my peace with it a long time ago. Anyway, I kept on with it. Nothing else I could do. Only I don't have the resources I used to, so I keep everyone here."

Rose considered this for a moment. "Yeah, but aren't there other places you could take some of them? The violent ones, I mean. Like real prisons, on their own planets."

"Nah. Some of 'em never actually did what they're being held for. My people can see timelines, which you probably already knew. Some of them were picked up before they could commit their crimes. Can't really give 'em a trial if they never got to do what they're on trial for."

"That doesn't seem right, though. I mean, they haven't done anything, yeah? How can you punish someone for something they never got the chance to do?"

"But they would have done it. And I'm not talking about jaywalking, here. I'm talking about genocide. Did your universe have an Adolph Hitler?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, of course it did. But...oh, that's right. No World War II here," she finished, eyes wide. "That was you?"

"Well, I dunno about World War II, but if he did anything like what we saw him doing here, then I suppose it could have gotten there. My people stopped him before it could become an issue. Are you tellin' me you think we should have let him do it? Suppose you know best, having seen it play out on your side. What do you say?"

Rose gulped, thinking over the enormity of that question. "I...I dunno. I mean, it was bad, yeah? But my Doctor always said you couldn't change stuff like that. That you just had to let history take its course."

"And maybe that's how things were in your universe. But here, my people have been patrolling since most of the other species were still in their evolutionary diapers. Kept that sort of thing from happening, right from the start. I bet that's not the only difference you noticed when you got here, smart girl like you."

"I dunno," she said, gobsmacked, "I never really got a chance to study up on all of it, didn't think I needed to. I was so busy training with Torchwood and tryin' to find a way back to my universe. I just kinda picked up on whatever would come up day to day."

"Right, well, most people here wouldn't know there was anything odd about it at all, either. It's just the way things have always been."

Rose sat in silence, unable to think of how to respond to that.

He huffed in frustration. "This is why you humans are so difficult to travel with. You take forever to accept anything different from what you're used to."

"Hey! That's not fair! Alternate universes, and aliens, and time travel – no problem for me, even though I didn't know they existed for most of my life. But you're telling me everything I know about my planet's history is different here. I'm gonna need a minute to process that," she shot back, indignantly.

"Fair enough. It's a lot to take in, I'll give you that. So how about we get you back to your room. I haven't got time to sit around here all day while you adjust. But you're not the least interesting person on board, so I think I can make time for you again in a couple of days. How's that?"

"Yeah. All right. Oh, and before I forget, I still want to see the medical reports you have on me."

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I didn't forget. But today's not the day for it. Got bigger things to deal with, you have. Now, lay back down. I'm going to put you back in stasis and have Jack come get you. And no arguments, you got your chat with me. And I'm agreeing to another one. But patience is a virtue much appreciated on my ship, so you can deal with it."

Rose clenched her jaw, but opted not to say anything and did as he asked. She hoped to get more information out of him, and the only way to do that was to stay in his good graces. She'd get another chance at that in a couple of days. So for now, she just needed to bide her time be cooperative.


End file.
